Lakers president Magic Johnson is getting rave reviews from owner Jeanie Buss on the job he has done in remaking the team, relays Dan Feldman of NBC Sports. Johnson’s standout move was luring free agent LeBron James to L.A., but he also cleared away a lot of cap space and convinced a series of veterans to accept one-year deals so the Lakers can take another big swing in free agency next summer.
“I have complete faith in Magic Johnson in terms of his ability to be a leader, to know how to put together a winner,” Buss said this week in an appearance on the Rich Eisen Show. “And I have patience. And I think what he’s done has exceeded my expectations, how quickly they’ve kind of turned around the roster.”
There’s more today from the Pacific Division:
- Harry Giles still hasn’t seen any NBA action, but he has been the most intriguing Kings story of the summer, notes Noel Harris of The Sacramento Bee. The Kings were extremely cautious with Giles after making him the 20th pick in the 2017 draft, sitting him out the entire season to make sure his knees were fully recovered from a series of surgeries that date back to high school. Giles was impressive in Summer League action and was picked as the Rookie of the Year favorite by ESPN’s Kevin Pelton.
- Yogi Ferrell may have a prominent role off the bench in the Kings‘ backcourt, writes James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area in an examination of the team’s potential guard rotation. Sacramento was able to land Farrell in free agency after he pulled out of an agreement with the Mavericks in search of more guaranteed money. Ham expects newly acquired Ben McLemore to be bought out or traded and notes that the team would like to move Iman Shumpert, but is having trouble finding a taker for his $11.4MM salary.
- Jamelle McMillan is enjoying a homecoming after being added to the Suns‘ coaching staff, writes Cody Cunningham of NBA.com. The son of Pacers head coach Nate McMillan, Jamelle played four seasons at Arizona State before starting his coaching career. At age 29, he is one of the NBA’s youngest assistants.
Harry Giles is going to be dominant defensively, I see a young Garnett in Giles. Fully expect him and Bagley to make the Kings formidable very soon.
Although, I have rooted for the Kings since the Kansas City/Omaha days, they are going NOWHERE as long as Vlade is their GM. I thought he was a very nice person to meet but a can shy of a full six pack in terms of basketball IQ as it is now described. His results back it up. I think to this day Lakers cheated them out of a spot in Finals 2002. Joey ”Crapgame” Crawford & Tim ”What’s the spread” Donaghy took them out, I would not be surprised that it was all covered up when Joey got his job back out of nowhere. P.S. (My only conspiracy theory) Bagley won’t get a sniff at ROY this year. Seems a little fragile to me, so we will see.
Dude Bagley wants to shoot for NBA MVP and Rookie of the Year. Not that he will win both but just having that type of mentality says a lot about where he wants to be in his career. He can certainly win Rookie of the Year and I’m with Vlade on what he’s building. Fox,Bagley, and Giles are going to be phenomenal players in the NBA, I’m not fortune teller but I can definitely foresee it.
Well if ROY is what he wants, okay then. Give it to him.
Ayton may want it though.
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Sacto should move Shumpert to the 3 first, before moving him out, and see what they have. Shumpert could help that process by saying he’s a wing not a guard but he doesn’t. IDKY
I agree, a motivated Shumpert at the 3 could be a good fit in Sacremento..He could provide them with some solid defense and his ability to shoot from 3 would help them space the floor for Fox, Bogdanovic, Giles, and Bagley…
In my opinion, it would be an absolute waste to just get rid of Shump, ESPECIALLY if they have to package a pick to get rid of his contract!! That would just be dumb af..
If healthy, which is a gigantic of, Giles can very well become the 2018-2019 “Rookie” of the Year Award winner..Giles is an absolute stud, and he is a legit beast down low on the block. He can and will rebound at a high rate, he caj and will block, contest, and alter a ton of shots, and he is an efficient and suprisingly efficient scorer. Again, if Giles is healthy, I would not be at all suprised if he ends the season averaging a double-double with a couple blocks and assists per game..I’m not sure if that will be enough to win him the award, but either way, he’s an excellent building block for the Kings moving forward..I initially thought the Kings had the best draft in 2017, and I still feel that way. With these last two drafts the Kings have positioned themselves very well for the future. If they are able to make a splash with couple of additions, like a Jimmy Buckets, in the 2019 free agency class, then they could actually be well on their way to becoming a legit contender in the West..
Your stand up comedy is quite entertaining but don’t quit your day job
Having that attitude and having the ability to win it are two different things
He’ll be pushed around in the nba because his game is based in the paint and he didn’t get any bigger since college
jeanie buss needs a f/up playboy shoot
Anyways, I believe Giles biggest competition will come from Wendell Carter Jr., the man-child Ayton,
the playmaking Doncic, and finally the chucker Trae Young..
Keep in mind, I ONLY include Young in that list, NOT due to his talent being on par with the other listed players, but moreso, because of the opportunity he will have in Atlanta.
On a scoring deprived Atlanta Hawks team, Young should get EVERY opportunity to put up a ton of shots, play a ton of minutes, and statistically put up a bunch of assists. With his “Curry-esque” range, and high volume 3-point shooting I think Young should garner enough attention and put up the counting stats to be included in the running for ROY…
Again, even with that being said, I believe each of the aforementioned players are all better players and more talented than Trae Young. (i.e. Ayton, Doncic, Carter Jr., and Giles) I personally even like Kevin Knox, Lonnie Walker IV and Michael Porter Jr. more than Young..
Who cares about ROY .. and hype on players that have t played a game… it’s wins that matter .. the Kings Roster sucks and is a 23-27 win roster.. they’ve miss the playoffs for 12-13 years straight and also won’t have a first round pick next year because of Vlades bad deal his first year with the team.. still caring about who is a ROY candidate Kings fans and care about wins.. cause this team is stealing your money at the gate with this bad roster.
I do think Sacramento is on the up, great future with MBIII & Giles, also I like Labissiere, that makes for a scary frontcourt, yeah they are weak on the backcourt, but hey if they were strong too they would be a playoff team. But I think now they are doing things better. It only can be good to have 2 players with a shot at ROY, that shows the future is good, I rather this now than a few more wins with a vet team with no bright future.
I agree with Buss, I think Magic has done a brilliant job so far, didn’t expect any less this guy is got as high a basketball IQ anyone can have. Lakers are gonna have a great season competing this year, hopefully even troubling GSW & next year other FA’s will be lining up to sign with the show time.
Kings are a black hole. Giles will never recover from his knee issues. Yawn.
Sacramento will have a fun team to watch. They should be good by the end of the year. Helid is also someone to watch too. Giles said his kneees are good. Let’s hope so.
Anyone that saw Giles play in summer league should be excited for him. He looked amazing.
Did Earvin Johnson just get the infamous vote of confidence by the franchise owner? But this is not the time to fire him! (I refer to how coaches in trouble often get nice words from the boss just before they get fired.)
Johnson is not that intelligent but he gets the most out of a situation and offers vitality. For his current gig he used LA to recruit and did not overpay anyone– or even pay many players at all! Compare to Pat Riley/ Heat. It may be fun to collect players and Pelinka is good at it but Johnson set things up to let a key player (Lebron) have some of that fun. It seems to be working.
Jeanie Buss is the product of nepotism. The little lass has no clue what she’s doing. So, her “rave reviews” don’t mean much.
I don’t have complete faith in Magic. In fact, I have very little. All of these moves are absolutely mind boggling. Including the LeBron signing.
I got it, he’s a great player, but he’s getting older. His playing window is very short, as he’s in the final quarter of his career.
Also, all the other signings have one foot in the nursing home, as well.